WI: Labor Unions support the May 1968 protests/strikes in France?

[Yelnoc]

Just stumbled across this piece of history. If the "wildcat strikers" were in fact backed by the unions, what might have happened?

Could a POD during this time (not necessarily this one, but any POD) result in a communist France?

 

[Thande]

I admit I don't know much about the period, but I don't think so. The protestors were anti-establishment in general and mostly just as contemptuous of doctrinaire communism as they were of capitalism (they were inspired in part by the Prague Spring, after all).

If they did manage to pull off a revolution, even if the resulting state was communist in name I suspect it would be a form of Eurocommunism that was even more opposed to Moscow than de Gaulle had been.

 

[Meadow]

If they did manage to pull off a revolution, even if the resulting state was communist in name I suspect it would be a form of Eurocommunism that was even more opposed to Moscow than de Gaulle had been.

If that was a TL, I would read the shit out of it.

 

[Killer300]

Me too, someone MAKE THIS.

 

[Yelnoc]

I wonder what group could seize power from De Gaulle. And what the Soviet and NATO reactions might be. You, know, we might see NATO intervention to prevent any rebels from ousting De Gaulle, in fear of a soviet revolution.

 

[Thande]

I wonder what group could seize power from De Gaulle. And what the Soviet and NATO reactions might be. You, know, we might see NATO intervention to prevent any rebels from ousting De Gaulle, in fear of a soviet revolution.

Hardly. Even a communist France could hardly cause more headaches for NATO than De Gaulle already had

If De Gaulle conveniently died in early violence and there was a more pliable figurehead of the French Right on the other hand...

 

[Sam R.]

To get the Unions supporting May 1968 requires either:

1. The PFC supporting May 1968
2. OR, an ultraist faction infiltrating the PCF unions and winning

Neither is particularly likely. The most viable ultraist factions fell apart in the early 1960s. The Maoists weren't effective. Even then, this only gets you as far as Italy got in the 1970s.

yours,
Sam R.